Inside the Star

UN mission may come too late for many in Central African Republic: Analysis

A peacekeeping force of nearly 12,000 was unanimously approved Thursday, but it will not deploy until September. Meanwhile, as a recent visit to Bangui showed, the country’s residents continue to live in terror.

Children gather on Thursday at a water pump in PK12, a Muslim neighbourhood in Bangui, Central African Republic. The UN Security Council has approved a nearly 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping force for the country.

“Risk of genocide,” “ethnic cleansing” and hatred reaching a “terrifying level” were phrases used increasingly — and deliberately — in the lead-up to a United Nations vote on a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.

Amid these dire warnings and along with fears of “the next Rwanda,” there was little surprise Thursday when a nearly 12,000-strong UN force was unanimously endorsed.

And as a recent trip to the C.A.R. made clear, there is little doubt it is needed.

Even before our flight landed, there were passengers staring out the window, pointing, as flight attendants left their seats to take a look. Thousands of residents live in makeshift camps along the runway, too scared to return home.

Drive out of the airport, past the French troops, and the capital, Bangui, spreads out in divided zones. Each is under the protection of one of the country’s African Union forces, dispatched here quickly as part of a peacekeeping mission of 6,000.

Without them, there would be near-chaos, as the country lacks a functioning military or police force.

But the African Union presence — bolstered by nearly 2,000 French troops — is still not enough to stop the killings in Bangui, let alone outside the capital, from where there are few reports.

You could see the fear in the faces of the families who watched our plane land and those of people in the streets.

The translator I worked with was confident and had a background in security. He has lived in Bangui, which is more like a small town than a bustling African capital, all his life. His mother is Muslim, his father Christian, which helped us access almost all areas of the city.

I didn’t understand his fear until he got a flat tire in an unfamiliar neighbourhood. Terrified he would be mistaken as Muslim, he bolted from the car when he heard the bang of the tire, thinking it was a gunshot. He had to be coaxed back by friendly vendors who helped him with a spare tire.

It’s a city on edge, traumatized by months of slaughter. And reconciliation can’t take place when there is still fear.

It is hard to imagine what the situation looks like in the countryside, where there is little outside protection.

Although the roots of the C.A.R.’s conflict are not religions, the country of 4.5 million now remains dangerously split — with Muslim residents occupying only two neighbourhoods in Bangui and the rest seeking refuge in the north, or in neighbouring countries.

Last year, following a March coup, a mainly Muslim militia known as the Seleka, which means “coalition” in Sango, mercilessly ruled the country with the help of fighters from Chad and Sudan.

Vigilante squads calling themselves anti-balaka, which drew members from the majority Christian population, fought back. Over two days in December at least 1,000 were killed, which prompted French and AU forces to intervene.

These battalions were dispatched quickly — as the French and African Union forces are able to do, unlike the bureaucratic United Nations.

But they were not meant to be permanent, and already the strain of having forces from a once-colonial ruler and AU troops from neighbouring countries is evident.

Muslim residents who remain in the capital, hiding in two neighbourhoods known as PK5 and PK12, are growing increasingly hostile towards the French forces, accusing them of providing weapons to Christian militias.

The people of this small, landlocked country want their story told, and I met little resistance and heard many pleas for outside help. But one evening in PK5 as we arrived following a gunfight, a group of men approached, demanding to know if I was a French journalist. AU forces were blocks away, the French even further outside the district.

“She should leave,” one said in Sango to my translator, and we did.

There is also growing hostility toward some of the AU contingents. Of the eight countries involved in the force, only Rwanda and Burundi do not border C.A.R..

Chad has been accused of backing former Muslim fighters and said last week it would remove its 850 troops amid these allegations.

As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said during a Saturday visit to Bangui, the peacekeepers remaining are “under-resourced and overwhelmed” by the scope of the crisis.

The UN mission of 10,000 troops and 1,800 police officers approved Thursday will not deploy until September, leaving a dangerous vacuum and much time for conflict to shift. There is fear Seleka fighters will regroup and again try to take the capital. The anti-balaka is an unwieldy force with criminals and child soldiers amid its ranks.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has yet to comment on Thursday’s endorsement of the UN mission. Canada has not committed to such a peacekeeping mission in years, so while the prospect is unlikely this time, Baird has indicated that the UN deliberations were being closely monitored.

Canadian senator and retired general Roméo Dallaire has called on Ottawa to join the mission and reclaim the country’s reputation for peacekeeping.

Dallaire argued in a recent interview that Canadian troops would be well suited for the task, a sentiment that has been echoed by some Liberal and NDP members of Parliament.

His push for Canadian involvement was also welcomed by the C.A.R.’s highest-ranking UN officer, who said Canada was still respected for peacekeeping, despite not having joined any missions for nearly 15 years.

“I’m really delighted to have this message conveyed by Gen. Dallaire,” retired lieutenant-general Babacar Gaye told me in an interview last month from Bangui. Gaye said he served alongside Canadian forces during his first peacekeeping mission in Sinai, in 1974. “We had excellent relations … We are expecting the return of Canada to peacekeeping.”

In a speech last month entitled “Canadian Diplomacy for the 21st Century,” Baird said that “sometimes you should be a referee and a rule-setter, but if you want to get a certain result, you have to be a player. When it comes to promoting Canadian values and interests, we can’t afford to not be a player.”

For now, C.A.R. is in state of paralysis, with violence flaring up as it did again Wednesday in the town of Dekoa, where another 30 people, mainly civilians, were killed as militia groups exchanged gunfire.

Any reconciliation between warring parties, plus the eventual return of the country’s Muslim residents, who made up about 15 per cent of the population, will have to take place under the protection of neutral peacekeeping forces.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.